Yet another reason why I have Caller ID and don’t bother answering calls from unlisted, blocked, etc. numbers or numbers that I don’t recognize. That’s what my answering machine is for. If they really want to talk to me they won’t hide behind unlisted numbers and would be willing to leave a brief message so I can call back when its convenient to ME.

Go mobile-only and get a decent mobile phone. Mine lets me dump all callers with blocked/hidden caller ID to a “this call can not be connected as dialed” message. It also lets me block payphone calls (how does it know? Dunno, but it works) and blacklist certain numbers. Alternatively, if I don’t feel like letting the world reach out to me I can set only a whitelist of numbers that can reach me.

Unfortunately where i work someone told a customer who called in for help to “shut up”, the customer complained (like they should), and that was that person’s last day on the job. My boss took the call and the person was told to pack up their desk and they were walked out.

Bottom line, people take enough shit from people on the phone, and while we take a lot of shit from a**hole customers, at the end of the day we are paid to at least give customers common courtesy, and be polite, if your rep can’t, call them out on it.

I would never get Disk Network. A few years ago I was junk-faxed by Disk Network reps on an almost weekly basis (before TX AG John Cornyn went after American Blast Fax). Guess I’m still holding a grudge…

Damn! You mean that video posting of the exchange between a Panamanian call center rep and potential computer customer was probably for real? Oyyyyyyeeeee. I can’t believable. Like a little girl. I can believable. Go ahead, little girl. Little pussy girl. Get out of here. Get out of here. Get out of here.

Yet another sterling example of Dish Network’s Customer Service. It’s not bad enough we have to take crap from people every day (bosses, wives, husbands, kids, co-workers, you name it), we get assaulted by telemarketers. Then if you DO order Dish and something goes wrong you have to deal with the CSRs who are trained to be unhelpful except for very basic troubleshooting.

Chances are, this guy was not remotely connected to Dish’s customer disservice, and was a Dish sales subcontractor. They’re the ones with the various “buy Dish for this special price” websites, and I don’t know how any of them make a buck due to the rudeness my husband experienced after calling one. The guy wouldn’t take no for an answer, and finally stopped calling after several days.

I used to get daily calls like this from DirecTV, and this was how I finally got them to stop: I kept them on the phone for about 30 minutes, going through every single channel I get from Comcast (which I hate), to see if they offered it. I kept having the woman repeat her spiel about how much money I would save if I switched, etc. My goal was to find a channel they DIDN’T have, which was going to be the deal breaker for me. Once I found it, I advised her I HAD to have that channel as it was my favorite and if they didn’t offer it I couldn’t do business with them. After wasting 30 minutes of her time with no sale, they stopped calling.

Telemarketers are a big reason why I don’t answer the phone (unless of course I can see it’s someone I know with caller ID). If it’s important, a message will be left.

Here in Canada we don’t have a DNC list (although the CRTC is thinking about implementing one, but I wouldn’t hold my breath). Nor is it verboten for telemarketers to call you on your mobile. Nor is it seen as improper in any way for your mobile carrier to specifically sell a list of its own customers to telemarketing scum, which said carrier doesn’t have to tell you about in any way (Fido sure doesn’t).

Frankly as far as mobile communications go Canada is ranked somewhere beneath the third world.

@bohemian: It’s a Toshiba 904T. It’s available on eBay for about $200-300. Pretty much any Toshiba with a model number of 90xT (or the 803T) can do this. It’s reduced my telemarketing calls to near-zero.

@create: Asking for a supervisor/manager is not the catch all problem solver. What would a manager do? Now if this were a customer service problem that was not being solved maybe it would be a good idea to esclate. So some telemarketer told you to shut up, if this is the biggest problem of your day, you are lucky!!!!

I got called “bitch” by a Dish telemarketer once, pre-DNC list. I demanded to be placed on their internal DNC list and asked for a 1-800 number and she’s claimed she had no idea what I was talking about and that she could not place me on their do not call list because they didn’t have one. I said I found that hard to believe and she said “whatever, bitch” and hung up the phone.

I called Dish and complained and basically got the “well, we can’t control hiring practices at our independent contractors but we will send a memo reminding them about proper language when calling customers. Whatever.

I love the DNC list. Love love love it. Incidentally, I’m a Dish customer these days, but I subscribed to them under my own volition, not because some telemarketer talked me into it. Denying some outbound telemarketing jockey her undeserved commission makes me happy.

@jamar0303: My sister used to have a feature on her phone that would accept calls from unknown numbers (at the time, my cellphone, which was the only phone I had, wouldn’t show its number on Caller ID), but it would require you to state your name, and allow them to refuse the call.

I want THAT feature on my cellphone. Since it’s impossible to block unknown calls on a line, I want to be able to force it directly to my voicemail or supply an automated message that says that the number won’t accept calls from unknown or private numbers unless the caller identifies him- or herself.

While satellite companies often tout their 100 percent digital quality picture advantage over cable, they can’t say that about the digital fiber-optic network! Having invested heavily in digital fiber-optic network, Digital Cable now has the advantage of 100 percent digital picture on your favorite channels. And that fiber optic network means reliability you can count on, even in the worst of weather – reliability backed by service technicians that are a single call away and located in your neighborhood. Cable will continue to upgrade our network to meet the increasing needs of more HD channels, On Demand and new interactive features. That satellite WILL NEVER be able to offer.

I never answer the phone when the number is blocked. When I do answer and there’s a telemarketer on the line – they never get a chance to say anything after their first words that tell me what they are. I used to feel badly about hanging up on them because I know it must be a terrible job (at least they have a job). But I won’t stand for any kind of abuse. Now I’m getting so that when anyone at all calls me I check the CID after they’ve hung up and call the person back if I know who it is. I hate telemarketers. We are on the DNC list – but a lot of so-called charities (e.g. the police or sheriff’s support group) seem to be able to bypass that. I never donate to anyone on the phone. In fact I wish I could find a way to donate to charities that would allow me to have it deductible but not give the charity any info that can be reused or sold.

I hate all the cable and satellite TV/internet providers. I have to deal with all of them (we pay for my mom’s DirectTV and we have DishNetwork but our internet is Comcast – we don’t have DSL or FIOS available to our area). Dealing with their CSR’s is a nightmare. I usually get hung up on several times before I can conclude whatever business that forces me to call them. If I didn’t have to – I certainly wouldn’t. Doesn’t make me a happy customer at all. It’s all an exercise in futility.

In cases where I encounter assholes and asshats who won’t take no for an answer or are rude, I call their head office and let them know. If necessary, I lie and say the moron was obscene. Regardless of how the telewhore acted, companies I do that to never call again.

Hey, they’re the ones invading my home, so they lose the right to complain when told to leave.

I like to have a nearby friend scream, tell the telemarketer to hold, yell to no one in particular that “the anesthetic wore off and I WILL NOT cut into a screaming person again…Drug them and throw them into the hole!”, get back on the line and say sweetly, “I’m sorry. Go on.”

@bill51773: Nice going.
Last night I got a call from Comcrap telemarketers, got the guy to hold and got the kids in the range, lock and loaded.
The guy never expected to come back to a firefight while i calmly told him if he could call back after we dusted the OpFor. Wonder if they will call again.

If the phone rings at my house during dinner we don’t pick up. It’s either my sister in law or a telemarketer. If I do pick up the phone and get a telemarketer I just hang up. I’m not even polite any more.